Choices Part 3 in the BuffyAngel trilogy
by xxAugustaxx
Summary: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well.
1. Prologue

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Choices

The Buffy & Angel Trilogy

~**Part 3**~

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

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Author's Note: I'm bacccckk!! lol. Well here it is; the final part. I really hope I'm doing a good job. I kinda stopped watching Buffy after it ended although I own up to the 4th season on DVD's. But I downloaded this Buffy/Angel video. It consisted of a sad song accompanied by lots of clips of Buffy and Angel through the years, and well, it made me remember what Buffy and Angel had together. And yes, there may have been a few tears, alright! Can't a person tear up! LOL. But seriously tho, I really hope I've written this story well and I'm not just writing a crappy story. The feedback has been SO much help you guys! Please let me know if I need to be changing' anything!! 

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Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

Prologue

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Three Months Later...

"Where's Buffy when you need her?" Gunn asked as he and Fred ran down an alley to escape a group of vampires that were chasing them.

"I don't know, but we could sure use her superpowers right about now!" Fred said back, out of breath. The group of vampires had managed to outnumber Fred and Gunn easily. 

"Charles, look. A dead end!" Fred called out as they slowed down and came towards the end of the alleyway.

"Yeah, I'm seeing that," he said as the two of them were forced to back against the wall. 

"Get ready to switch into fighting mode," Gunn warned Fred as the vampires walked closer towards them.

"Making that plan," Fred said worriedly. She could fight when she was forced to, but she wasn't as good as Wes and Gun. 

"Looking for me?" A female voice asked from behind the group of vampires. 

"Buffy! Boy you're cutting it close!" Gunn told her as he felt a sign of relief. 

"Slayer! Keep your little friends away from me and my homies. Their bothering us," The leader of the group said as he turned towards Buffy.

"Look, we really don't want any trouble, were just looking for Marissa. We heard she knows where our friend is," Buffy explained. 

The leader hesitated for a second as he thought.

"She's in a condemned building off Figueroa," he told them. He paused the suddenly gave his group a signal to ambush the three of them. 

"Gunn!" Buffy exclaimed as she tossed him a stake and began to kick the vampires that were coming at her.

"Got it!" he said as he caught the stake in the air. He spun around and quickly staked a vampire. 

"Fred, get behind me!" Gunn shouted as he staked another vampire. Fred quickly did what she was told and ran behind him as he and Buffy continued to stake the vampires. 

Before Fred was able to get behind Gunn for cover, a vampire grabbed her and pulled her away from him. Buffy looked up, about to run over and help when suddenly, the vampire exploded into dust. 

"Did you see that? Wasn't that cool?" Connor said excitedly; referring to his fighting skills with decapitating the vampire that was about to kill Fred. Buffy noticed Connor held one of Angel's swords, and walked over to him. 

"Yeah, cool. Let's just get back to the hotel. We got what we needed," Buffy told him as she turned around and walked out of the alley. 


	2. Ch1

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CHAPTER 1

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

"No Connor, It's not that I don't appreciate what you did back there, it's just; you can't keep disappearing," Buffy told Connor as they walked into the room. 

"I didn't disappear, I was tracking them from a far," Connor explained as he followed her. 

"Connor, look. I just don't want you disappearing while were still in the middle of trying to find your father," Buffy explained. Connor nodded. 

"I'm sorry I scared you," he told her. Buffy smiled as she walked over to him.

"It's alright. It's not you, I've just had a lot on my mind," she explained. She looked at Connor's features and noticed; as she always had; just how much Connor's features resembled Angel's.

"You look so much like him," Buffy told him as she smiled. "Why don't you get some rest?" she told him.

"It's alright. I'm not tired," he told her. Buffy smiled at him again and ruffled his dark blond hair with her hand. 

"Your a good kid, you know that?" she told him. Connor smiled before heading upstairs. Buffy waited until she heard the sound of Connor's door shut before turning towards Gunn, who had just walked into the room. Fred was sitting behind the computer.

"Did you find anything yet?" Buffy asked in a hushed voice as she walked over to Fred and Gunn. Buffy couldn't help but think how much this seemed like old times back in Sunnydale...sort of. Fred had just as much knowledge with computers and the net as Willow had. Thinking of Willow reminded Buffy that she hadn't called her in a while. She felt bad for not calling her friend as much as she should, but she had had a lot on her mind lately with Angel's sudden disappearance. 

After Angel disappeared, she was not only faced with raising Connor alone, but she also had to deal with the Hotel, and to keep up on the monster population in L.A. 

Fred looked up from the computer. "Ah yeah, actually I think we found the buildings layouts," Fred told her. 

"Good. We'll check it out tomorrow night. See if this Marissa girl's there," Buffy said. She then looked over at Gunn. 

"Why don't you guys get some sleep? It's been a tiring day, and we've done good," she told them. Fred nodded.

"Alright. Thanks," she said before she shut down the computer. They were half way up the stairs when Buffy spoke up once more.

"Oh, guys? Please don't say anything to Connor about this lead yet. I don't want to get his hopes up," she told them. 

"Alright," Gunn said before the two of them disappeared upstairs. Buffy looked around the lobby and sighed. She had just found out that they were closer to eviction then finding Angel. It was also hard for the group to come up with leads to their friend, Cordy. They had realized Cordelia had gone missing that night as well, and they had been looking for her as well ever since. Buffy hugged herself as she thought of all the things that she was left to do now that Angel was gone. She felt as if she was going to cry at the thought of Angel. She couldn't understand why Angel had vanished so suddenly. 

"Mom, are you ok?" Connor asked as he walked into the room. He walked over to Buffy and put his hand on her shoulder. Buffy snapped out of her thoughts of Angel and turned towards Connor. 

"Yeah, I-I'm ok," she said as she smiled at her son. _At least I still have our son, _she thought to herself as she looked at Connor. She had given up so much, being pregnant at a young age. She was eighteen when she had Connor. And juggling school with slaying as well as being pregnant was too much at the time. So she was forced to drop out. But Connor was worth it, Buffy thought as she looked at him. 

"I'm just tired," she told him. "I'm, I'm going to bed. Are you..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, I'm headed there myself," he assured her. 

"Alright, Goodnight Connor. I love you," she said as she hugged him.

"Goodnight," Connor said as he hugged her back. Buffy gave him another smile before going upstairs to bed. 


	3. Ch2

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CHAPTER 2

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I got an opinion recently, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

The next evening, Buffy, Gunn and Fred were discussing plans to go check out their newest and only lead when Connor came running down the stairs. Buffy knew by the look on his face that he wasn't happy about something.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked angrily as he walked over to them. 

"Connor, what is it?" Buffy asked as she slipped out from the desk and walked over to Connor.

"Why didn't you tell me about this lead?" he asked. 

"Connor, I'm sorry. I didn't want to say anything to you until we knew for sure this person was a solid lead. I didn't want to disappoint you," she explained. 

"I want to go with you when you check this place out," he told her. Buffy nodded.

"Alright," she said. Connor smiled before heading upstairs. 

"Remind me again why were letting junior go?" Gunn asked as Buffy walked over to where they kept some of their weapons. 

"Because he has every right to," she answered as she pulled out a knife and examined the blade.

"Yeah, but he might scare away our only lead," he explained. 

"Look Gunn, I don't want to argue this. Angel is Connor's father; if he wants to come with us to help find him, I'm not going to tell him that he can't," she said. The room went silent for a few minutes.

"How about Wolfram & Hart? I mean I know were not exactly chummy with them, but maybe they know something about Angel's disappearance?" Buffy suggested.

"Oh no. Poking your head in there is just begging for trouble, and we have all the trouble we can handle," Gunn told her. Buffy nodded.

"Your right. Ok, where's Wesley?" Buffy asked as she realized the on going absence of her ex-watcher. 

"Not sure. Swung by his house a little while ago. He wasn't there; don't think he has been there for a few days or so," he explained.

"Great. Angel's missing; Cordy's missing, and now Wesley's missing?" Buffy asked.

"Actually, he told me he had some things to take care of and wouldn't be around for a few days," Fred told them as she stepped forward. 

"Ok, good," Buffy said as she looked over at her. "Ok. At least our missing people's list isn't growing. Let's get going, huh? I want to get this over with," Buffy suggested as she walked towards the staircase.

"Connor, were ready to go!" she called up. 

"Alright. Let's go," Connor said as he appeared behind her. Buffy jumped at the sound of his voice as she spun around.

"Connor, where'd you-" she began.

Connor smiled. "I was in the other room; downstairs; getting my knife," he explained as he held out the knife he'd made in Quor-toth.

"OK. Let's get going," Buffy suggested to the group. She looked over at Fred and Gunn.

"You guys got your weapons?" she asked just as both Fred and Gunn walked over to Buffy and Connor. 

"Yes we do," he said as they held up their weapons.

"Alright. Let's go find ourselves that lead," she said as she led the group out the door. 

* * *

The crew arrived at the abandoned house a little while later, fully armed, and ready to fight. As they cautiously walked into the abandoned building, they were greeted with only an eerie silence. As they made their way further into the old house, Connor picked up on something.

"Do you guys hear that?" he asked as he walked towards an old room that had once been used as a bedroom. 

"Hear what? Connor?" Buffy asked as she followed Connor towards the room. 

"Music. I can hear music playing in there," he said pointing to the room. Buffy frowned.

"Guess I'll have to check it out. Gunn?" she said as she prepared to go into the room. Gunn stepped forward beside Buffy. Before they could check out the room, Marissa dropped down from the ceiling behind them. Connor quickly snapped into fighting mode, and captured Marissa before she could attack Buffy. 

"Oh good. We were just looking for you," Buffy said as she walked over towards Connor and Marissa. 

"Go to hell Slayer," Marissa told her. Connor backhanded the vampire. 

"Don't talk to her like that," Connor snarled. He was very protective of Buffy, even though she could take care of herself. 

"Connor, it's ok," Buffy told him. She then looked back at Marissa. "Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. We just want to know if you've seen a missing person," Buffy explained. 

"I don't know anything about a missing vampire," she told them as she squirmed in Connor's grasp, trying to get free. 

"Funny, we didn't say _who_ was missing," Gunn said. 

"I think you know exactly who were looking for. Spill," Buffy said. She looked at Connor. "Or else I think my son can help you out with that," she threatened. 

"Alright, alright, I might have seen the vampire you're looking for," she said. Buffy raised her eyebrow. "Alright, I did see him a while back," she told them. Buffy sighed impatiently. Then all of a sudden, Marissa broke free of Connor's grasp and ran up to the roof. Buffy instantly moved to run after her when Connor put out his hand. 

"No. I've got her," Connor said as he ran after her. Buffy stood and waited a second.

"What? Were letting junior go after her?" Gunn said in disbelief. Buffy turned around towards him and shrugged.

"Why not?" she said. "He's a good fighter," she reminded him. 

"Yeah, but why aren't we going after her. He's going to scare her away," Gunn told her. 

"Gunn, I don't want to argue this. Come on, let's go after them," she said before running in the direction Connor took off in only minutes ago. She could hear both Gunn and Fred running behind her as she climbed up to the roof. When she got there, she found Connor kneeling on the ground beside a pile of dust. 

"Connor, what happened?" she asked as she walked over to Connor and noticed he had a gash on his arm. 

"She left me no choice," Connor told them. 

"Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me. You staked the only lead we've had in three months!" Gunn said angrily. 

"It was self defense. I had to," he told him. 

"Had to my ass. There goes our lead," he told him. 

"Gunn, stop it. He had no choice," Buffy told him.

"No mom, he's right. He's _always_ right," Connor said angrily. He then ran over to the side of the building and jumped off. 

"Connor!" Buffy yelled. She ran over to the side just in time to see Connor disappear into the night. She turned around and looked at Gunn.

"Is he...?" Fred asked worriedly.

"He's fine. He has heightened strengths," she reminded her. She looked at Gunn once more before walking back to the hotel. 


	4. Ch3

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Chapter 3

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Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

Buffy, Gunn and Fred arrived back at the hotel a little while later without Connor. Buffy sighs as she unloaded a few of her extra stakes. 

"Buffy, are you ok?" Fred asked as she walked over to Buffy and put her hand on her shoulder. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. We just need to keep looking for them," she said. Gunn walked past them and disappeared somewhere in the building. 

"Why don't you call Lorne, and see if any of his leads turned up anything?" Buffy suggested. Fred nodded.

"Alright," she said before walking over to the phone. Buffy walked into Angel's office and sat down at his desk as she rubbed her head. "Where are you?" she asked herself aloud as she tried to think once more to what might have happened to him. She was also worried about Cordy at the same time, but her focus seemed to always go back to just Angel. 

A few minutes later, while deep in thought, Fred knocked on the opened door.

"Anything?" Buffy asked as she looked up. Fred shook her head.

"He said all his leads turned up as dead as ours; on both Angel and Cordy," she explained. Buffy sighed. 

"I can't believe we can't find them," she said frustrated. All of a sudden, the two heard the front door slam shut. 

"Connor?" Buffy asked as she got up from the chair and walked out to the lobby. "Connor, are you alright?" Buffy asked concerned. Connor nodded.

"Yeah. I just went for a walk," he explained. 

"Yeah, well next time you decide to take a little walk, you may want to let one of us know before jumping off a building," Gunn said from the stairs as he walked down towards Connor. 

"Charles," Fred began. 

"No. He can't keep running off like that. We've got two people missing. And we have no idea where they are or what happened to them. We don't need to be worrying about him too," he said. Just then, the phone rang. 

"Um, I'll get it," Fred offered as she walked over to the phone and picked it up. 

"You know what, your not my father. I don't have to listen to this," Connor told Gunn before running up the stairs. 

"We really need to get a leash for that boy," Gunn said as they heard the door slam. 

"Gunn, he's right; you're not his father. You can't keep yelling at him like that," Buffy told him. 

"Someone needs to be yellin' at him. That boy doesn't listen to anything _anyone_ says," he told her. Fred walked back over to the two of them with a shocked expression.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"That was Wesley. They found Angel," she told them. Buffy was overwhelmed with happiness and relief as soon as she heard what Fred had said. 

"Is he ok? How did he find him?" Buffy asked quickly. 

"That's the other part," she said. Buffy looked at her confused. 

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" she asked as she slowly began towards Fred. Fred looked at Gunn, then back at Buffy.

"Wesley found Angel at the bottom of the ocean, in a metal box," she told her. Buffy looked at her shocked.

"Oh my god," Buffy whispered in disbelief. Her thoughts quickly shifted to what might have happened to him while he was down there and the condition it had left him in. She couldn't believe what had been done to Angel.

"That's not the worst part," Fred told her. "Wesley also found out who put him there," she said. 

"Who? We'll go out right now and find them," she said with a new wave of anger in her voice.

"He, he's already here," she said. 

"Who-" she began.

"Connor did it. He and one of Holtz's minions; I think Wesley said her name was Justine; anyway, he and Justine are on a boat right now, and on their way back to shore...and presumably here," she explained. Buffy stood there silent for a moment taking in the news that her own son was behind Angel's disappearance.

"There must be some mistake. Connor wouldn't…" she began. "Oh god, no," she said as she backed away from the group.

"Buffy?" Gunn asked as he walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. Buffy looked up at him. Her mind was spinning. 

"Buffy? I know you're confused right now, but we need to figure out what to do with Connor," he reminded her. 

"Right. You're right. We need to deal with Connor," Buffy said as she snapped out of her shocked state. 

"What are we going to do?" Fred asked. Buffy looked up to the area where Connor had disappeared a little while ago.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," she told them as she headed to the kitchen. 

A few minutes later, she came back out with a sandwich. Both Fred and Gunn watch as Buffy put the plate down on the front desk and grabbed a stun gun from the weapons cabinet. Gunn frowned in confusion.

"So you're going to give him a sandwich and threaten him with a stun gun?" Gunn asked. Buffy put the stun gun in her back pocket, then pulled her shirt over it to cover it up. 

"I thought I'd try something a little more affective. We all know Connor's just as stubborn as Angel," she reminded him as she picked up the plate and walked towards the stairs. 

"Wish me luck," she said over her shoulder as she climbed up the stairs.

"Good luck," Gunn said. "She's gonna need it," he told Fred as Buffy disappeared upstairs.

"Boy, here we go," Gunn said under his breath. 

* * *

Buffy knocked on Connor's door lightly and waited a few seconds for a reply.

"Who is it?" he asked from the other side of the door. Buffy hated what she had to do. She couldn't believe Connor could betray both her and Angel like that.

"It's me," she called back as she swallowed down her emotions. She waited a second before she heard the lock, then the door opened. 

"Hey," Connor said as he walked back towards his bed. Buffy walked in. 

"Hey. Thought I'd bring you up a sandwich," Buffy explained as she held out the sandwich. Connor took it and put it on his nightstand. 

"Thanks," he said.

"You must have had a rough life growing up in a Hell dimension," Buffy guessed. Her gaze and voice then turned serious. "It's not nearly as much as you're going to hurt for what you did for your father," she told him as she pulled out the stun gun. As soon as she zapped him, he was instantly knocked out. She looked at her un-conscience son and felt hurt for what she had done, but also for what _he_ had done.

"I'm so sorry Connor," she told him. She then put the stun gun back in her back pocket and walked over to Connor. She had no idea how long he'd be out for, but she guessed it wouldn't be too long. She then dragged him out of the room, to the top of the staircase as carefully as she could. 

"Gunn, give me a hand here!" Buffy called out. Gunn quickly ran over to her and grabbed Connor's feet, and helped her get Connor down the stairs.

"Now what are we going to do?" Fred asked worriedly. 

"Get a chair and some rope," she said. "Hurry, I don't know how long he'll be out," she added. 

"Right," Fred said as she ran out of the room to find a sturdy chair and some rope. 

"Buffy, are you alright?" Gunn asked. Buffy looked at him and nodded.

"I'm ok," she told him. A few minutes later, Fred came back into the room with a chair and some rope. 

"Here," she said as she set the chair down. Buffy and Gunn wasted no time, and quickly lifted Connor up onto the chair. Gunn held Connor up as Buffy tied him up to the chair. She made sure to tie him up so that he couldn't break the rope. He was stronger than most of the kids his age because of Buffy and Angel. 

"Ok. I think that will hold him," she said as she stepped back and looked at Connor, who was now tied up. 

"So what do we do now?" Fred asked.

"We wait," she answered as she walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Wait for what?" Gunn asked. Buffy looked up at him. 

"We wait for him wake up, or for Angel to arrive. Whichever happens first," she explained. Fred walked over to the couch and plopped down beside Buffy while Gunn remained standing beside Connor.

"Yeah, easier said then done," he said. 

****

* * *

The three waited around the lobby for Connor to wake up. A little while later, he did, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he tried to free his hands. 

"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked as he continued to try and get his hands loose. 

"Cut the act, we know about Angel," Gunn told him as he paced back in fourth in front of him. 

"What are you talking about?" Connor asked; pretending he didn't know what Gunn was talking about. Buffy stood up and walked over to him.

"We know about what you and Justine did with Angel," she told him. "She filled Wesley in on your little plan. He should be here anytime with your father," she said. The room fell silent. 

"He's alive you know. You failed," she told him. Connor looked up at her.

"I meant for him to live forever in that box, not to kill him," he told her. Buffy looked at him.

"Why? Why would you do that?" Buffy asked. She needed to know why Connor would trap Angel in a steel box and send him to the bottom of the ocean. Before Connor could answer, Wesley walked into the hotel, helping Angel walk.

"Angel!" Buffy said as she quickly ran over to the other side of Angel and wrapped his arm over her neck as she helped Wesley get him inside. He was conscience, but he was weak, and seemed dazed. 

"Let's set him on the couch," Buffy said as she began towards the couch. Buffy helped Angel down on the couch. 

"Buffy?" Angel asked weakly as he put his hand on hers. Buffy felt relieved that he knew who she was. Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, I'm here," she told him as she smiled. Three months had gone by with her not knowing where, or what happened to him, but now he was home. 

"Wes, why didn't you tell us sooner about junior here?" Gunn asked Wesley angrily. 

"I knew Connor wouldn't hurt a human being. You were safer not knowing," he explained. He then turned to leave knowing the group had everything under control. Although Connor being taken by Holtz wasn't his fault, he still felt guilty so he didn't like to stay at the Hyperion for very long. He felt as if the group blamed him.

"Oh and he's going to need more blood," he told them over his shoulder before leaving. While on the boat, Wesley had fed him some pig blood, but it wasn't enough. He had then rolled up his sleeve and let Angel feed off of him, but not enough to threaten Wesley's life. 


	5. Ch4

****

Chapter 4

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

Connor; now fully awake, watched Wesley leave while the others walked over to Angel and he worked on breaking free. _Now I wish I'd kept my knife in my pocket; it would have come in handy right about now for these ropes,_ Connor thought to himself as he continued to carefully tug at the ropes. He looked over at the group and noticed the stun gun Buffy had used on him was still in her back pocket. Connor somehow got loose from the chair, and while everyone was preoccupied with seeing Angel, he quickly crept over to her and grabbed Buffy's stun gun out of her back pocket. Instantly, Buffy whipped around.

"Connor, give me the gun," Buffy said as she slowly stood up. Connor held out in front of him.

"No," he said angrily as he pointed it at them. Gunn stood up and walked over to the side of Connor.

"Come on man. Give me the gun," Gunn said trying to get it from him. Connor turned to face him and then thrust it towards him.

"Get back!" he yelled. All of a sudden, someone from behind him grabbed Connor's shoulder and whipped him around. Connor was about to lunge towards Angel, when he grabbed the stun gun out from his hand. Angel had managed to sneak up behind Connor while he was threatening Gunn.

"I'll be taking that," he said as he continued to hold Connor's shoulder with his other hand. "Let me clue you in about being trapped under the ocean for three months," Angel said between clenched teeth. "It's funny what lack of food can do to you. You begin to hallucinate things, and the blood thirst is _unbearable _after three months of not having any," he explained. 

"I know why you did it. You blame me for Holtz's death, but let me tell you something Connor; I didn't kill him. I don't know how many times I have to tell you," he continued. "You're little accomplice Justine filled Wesley and I in about how she killed him. Holtz told her to do it so that you'd be able to move on and start you life here with us. Justine was the one that framed _me_ for his death," he told him. 

Connor looked around at every one's face and realized he was in big trouble, and wouldn't be able to lie out of any of this. He finally broke free of Angel's grasp and ran towards the door, but Angel ran after and caught him before he reached the door. With all his strength, Angel threw Connor into the wall in the lobby. Buffy watched from behind. Her heart told her to yell to Angel to stop, but her mind reminded her of Connor's betrayal. 

"Wes filled me in on the past three months; are you also behind Cordy's disappearance?" he asked as he walked over to Connor and pulled him to his feet by his shirt.

"I have no reason to take Cordy," he told him. Angel could tell by Connor's face that he was telling the truth. He looked at his son for a minute.

"I want you to get your stuff, and get out," he said to Connor as he released his grip on him. 

"Fine," Connor said before walking out the door angrily. Angel watched his son walk out the door. It hurt Angel to have to kick his son out. He still loved him after what he did, but he didn't want Connor there, for the time being at least. As soon as Connor walked out the door, Angel collapsed onto the floor.

"Angel!" Buffy exclaimed as she ran over to him and tried to help him up.

"I'm ok," Angel tried to tell her. 

"No you're not. Come on, let's get you up to bed," she told him as she helped him up the stairs. 

"Well, that's one of us back," Gunn said as he and Fred watched Buffy help Angel up the stairs.

"Let's just hope we can find Cordy," she said in a hopeful voice.

"Yeah, that'd be nice," he agreed knowing in reality, it probably wouldn't be that easy.

* * *

Upstairs, Buffy slowly helped Angel into their bed. She couldn't explain how good she felt that Angel was back. As she looked up at him and smiled, she couldn't help but notice how weak he looked. It reminded her of when he had come back from hell, back in Sunnydale, and she had to nurse him back to health. 

"Are you comfortable? 'Cause I can get more blankets, or-" she asked worriedly. Angel smiled.

"I missed you," he told her. Buffy smiled at him and sat down on the bed.

"I missed you too," she said as she inched closer to him. Angel instinctively moved his arm behind her and pulled her closer.

"You know what I really missed? I really missed lying next to you. Lying awake and listening to you sleep," he told her. Buffy looked up at him and smiled.

"Sleep. I'll be right here," she promised. 

"Alright," he said as Buffy lay next to him. Before he dozed off, he wished that things with Connor would get better, and that then they can finally be a family, but Angel wasn't sure that would ever be an option for them. 


	6. Ch5

****

CHAPTER 5

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note II: Yes, I myself realize Wesley's role in this is very much messed up. LOL. This will get better. I think I messed up earlier somewhere… But he will be involved more! I have not seen a lot of these episodes, I've just read about them in a few episode guides. With that little bit of info I got there, I tried to fill in the blanks… and yeah… I hope this doesn't suck too horribly!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

A Few Weeks Later...

"Angel, you sure you should be up and about? I mean, shouldn't you be upstairs resting?" Gunn asked as he walked into Angel's office. 

"You're starting to sound like Buffy; I'm fine," he assured Gunn as he looked up. "Besides, it looks like there's some work to be catching up on now that I'm back," he said as he gestured to his desk. 

"Has there been any word on Cordy's whereabouts?" Angel asked curiously. Gunn sighed and shook his head.

"Afraid not." Angel nodded.

"Maybe we should rake the bottom of the ocean for a big metal box," he suggested.

"Speaking of which, you haven't heard from Connor since you gave him the boot; have you?" Gunn asked. Angel shook his head as he put his pen back in the jar on the table. 

"Nope. Not really expecting to for a while," he told him truthfully. 

"How's Buffy takin' it?" he asked. Angel stood up and scratched the back of his head.

"She's doin' good. I mean, she's dealt with hard things all her life, I guess she's used to it," he explained. 

"Where _is_ Buffy anyway?" Angel asked as he walked out from behind his desk. 

"Oh ah, she's down stairs beating the hell out of the punching bag," he said. Angel smiled. "Glad I haven't made her mad," he added thinking of the damage she could really do to him if she wanted to.

Angel laughed. "Thanks Gunn," he said before walking out of his office. He then headed down the stairs to see Buffy.

****

* * *

"Any chance you might want to take a break from beating on that thing?" Angel asked as he walked down the stairs. Buffy punched the bag once more before turning towards him with a smile on her face.

"Hey," she said out of breath as she walked over towards him. "Is everything ok?" she asked. Angel shook his head.

"Yeah. Everything's ok...for the time being. I just wanted to come down here and see you," he explained.

"Any word on Cordy?" she asked. Angel shook his head.

"No, not yet," he said.

"Has anyone heard from Connor?" she asked.

"Nope, and I don't think we will be hearing from him for a while," he assured her. Buffy sighed.

"I just wish I knew if he was ok," she admitted. Angel put his hand on her warm shoulder.

"Buffy, he's fine. He knows how to take care of himself," he reminded her. Buffy sighed. 

"How did this happen?" she asked. "We just got him back; I thought we could finally be a family. Now look at where we are?" she asked. Her voice sounded empty.

"Buffy he'll be fine," he assured her. Buffy nodded.

"You're right. I guess my brain still hasn't adjusted to all of this yet," she said.

"I know, I still can't believe what's happened either, but it is, and we have to deal with it," he told her. The two then fell silent.

"Fred, Gunn and I are going to Cordy's to start packing her stuff up if you wanna come?" he offered.

"Ok, sure. It beats staying here in the basement," she told him as they headed towards the stairs.

****

* * *

"Which box are we putting her clothes in?" Fred asked as she walked out of Cordy's bedroom with a hand full of clothes. Angel looked up.

"In this box," he said as he pointed to a box. Fred nodded and began to carefully place the clothes in the box. Buffy looked around the room.

"It doesn't look like Cordy's been here for a while," she noted before sitting at the table with Angel.

"I know," he agreed as he continued to look through a pile of Cordelia's pictures. 

"Maybe phantom Dennis knows something?" Gunn suggested. Angel looked up and shook his head.

"He's not talking. Besides, I doubt he knows anything more then what we know," he told them before looking back down at a group picture of Wes, Cordy, and Fred. Buffy picked up on Angel's sadness and placed her hand on top of his. 

"We'll find her," she assured him. "I bet she's ok and alive wherever she is; it's just a matter of finding her," she told him. 

"Have you tried the Oracles?" Fred asked. Angel stood up and sighed. 

"I already tried. Even if they knew something we didn't; they're not saying anything," he explained. "I'd better get back to the hotel," he said as he headed towards the door. Fred and Gunn looked at Angel worriedly as well as Buffy. 

She looked back at them and said quickly, "You guys can quit any time. We'll continue another time," she said as she followed Angel. 

"Are you ok?" Buffy asked. Angel shook his head.

"We should've found her by now; something," he said as he slammed his fist against the wall outside.

"You can't blame yourself. We're all on it," she told him.

"I vowed to myself after Doyle died that I'd keep everyone I loved safe," he explained. "Yeah, I'm doing a great job."

"Angel, you were at the bottom of the ocean for a few months; It's not your fault; Cordy hasn't been found yet," she said. 

"There must be someone who knows where she is," he said to both him and Buffy. 

* * *

A few hours later everyone was back at the hotel researching possible leads to what might have happened the night Cordy disappeared when all of a sudden, Wesley walked in with a thick folder in his hands. 

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think I found something of interest," he said as he walked over to them. 

"What is it?" Angel asked as he walked over to Wesley. 

"It's about Cordy. I think I may know where she is," he told them. The room fell silent as everyone then looked at Wesley. "She is not dead but perhaps in another dimension," he began. "After hearing this rumor, I went to an old friend who knew how to get there. Angel, the only the dead can enter her lair," he informed them.

"How do I get there?" he asked quickly. Wesley looked down and produced what looked like a crystal ball held by a large claw. He tossed the object to Angel.

"It can be opened by a ritual you'll find in the Rynhard text book," he explained

"Is it safe?" Buffy asked.

"Is anything we do safe?" he replied. "I just thought you may want to know about the lead," he said before he turned to go. Angel quickly ran after him and stopped him at the door.

"You know Wesley, I don't blame you for Connor's kidnapping," he told him. "He's back now, and we've moved on from that night. As far as I'm concerned, were ok," he assured Wesley. Wesley nodded.

"I greatly appreciate your forgiveness," he said before leaving. Angel slowly walked back towards the group. 

"What is it with you two and doing everything the hard way?" Gunn asked breaking the silence. Everyone looked over at Gunn.

"What? Everyone else's over it. Why can't he just come back and help us out like he used to," he said. Just then, the phone rang. Buffy walked towards the phone and picked it up. 

"Hello?" Buffy waited a second. 

"What?" she asked worriedly. She then listened for a few moments while the others looked at her worriedly. 

"No. No, of coarse I'll be there," she told the other person on the other end. "How long has she been like this?" she asked. After a second she responded. "And you waited until now to tell me?" she asked angrily. 

"I'm on my way," she said before she hung up. 

"Problems with the family?" Gunn guessed. 

"Something like that," she said as she headed for Angel's office. "Could you guys take over here for a while?" she asked.

"Of coarse," Fred said.

"What? What's going down in Sunnydale? An apocalypse?" Gunn asked as he walked towards Buffy.

"My mother, she's sick. Giles says it's pretty serious," she explained worriedly as she walked towards Angel's office.

"Hey, I know this isn't the best time, but, Giles just called," she began. Angel looked up at her worriedly.

"What is it? Is everyone alright?" he asked quickly.

"No," she told him as she tried to hide the worry from her voice. "It's my mom," she explained. "She's sick."

"How bad?" he asked.

"Giles wouldn't say. He just said that I need to be down there," she explained. "I know were kind of tied up here with the new lead in all, but I need to leave. I have a bad feeling about this," she admitted. 

Angel stood up and walked over to her. "I can check up on the lead later, this seems more important right now. We can leave tonight if you want," he told her.

"Thank you," she told him. Angel could tell she was worried. He pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be alright," he assured her as she held him tightly. 


	7. Ch6

****

Chapter 6

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note II: Oh my gosh, I'm not sure if all of you noticed, but some of you caught me on the big mistake I made. See, I'm writing another Buffy/Angel story called 'the End Of Days' and I accidentally posted ch.5 of this story into the other one! LOL. Thanks guys for catching me! Mid-terms boy… LOL. 

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

In Sunnydale...

Buffy and Angel instantly headed for her house as soon as they got to Sunnydale. As they pulled up in front of Buffy's house, Buffy noticed her mother's jeep was gone, but there were lights on in the house. 

"This looks funky," she said as they got out of the car and headed up towards the house. 

"Mom?" Buffy called out as she opened the door. All of a sudden, Xander walked into view.

"Xander? Where's my mom?" she asked. 

"She's staying overnight at the hospital," he explained. Buffy looked at him worriedly.

"Why?" she asked.

"Observations. I wouldn't worry about it," he told her.

"Well, has she been feeling alright? What's wrong?" she asked quickly as she walked into the living room.

"Buffy, I'm not completely sure. All I know is that Giles drove her to the hospital, and I got a call asking to watch Dawn since your mother was staying at the hospital for observations," he explained. 

"Why didn't anyone call me sooner?" she asked.

"Well, we knew you two were busy with the whole Connor thing and we didn't want to worry you," he explained. Buffy sighed as she put her hand up to her forehead.

"I'm going up to the hospital to see if I can find out anything," Buffy told Angel.

"I'll go with you," he told her. Buffy looked back at Xander.

"I'll be back," she promised her friend before leaving. 

****

* * *

Buffy and Angel walked into the hospital, and walked directly to the front desk.

"Can you tell me what room Joyce Summers is in?" Buffy asked. The nurse looked up at her.

"Are you a relative?" she asked.

"I'm her daughter," she told her. The nurse then pushed a few keys on the keyboard and looked back at Buffy from the computer.

"She's on the second floor; room 25," the nurse told her. 

"Thank you," she said quickly before hurrying away from the desk towards the elevator.

"For someone who hates hospitals as much as you do, you're sure doing ok," Angel noted as Buffy pushed the elevator button. 

"Yeah, well I'm good at hiding it," she told him as they stepped into the empty elevator. 

"I can tell," he said. The two stood in silence until the elevator stopped and opened.

"Here we go," Angel said as they walked back out. It wasn't hard to find the room Joyce was in. 

Buffy quickly walked into her room. "Mom?" Buffy asked as she walked over to her mother's bed.

"Angel, Buffy, hi," Joyce said warmly as they walked over to her bed. 

"Mom, why didn't tell me you were sick before?" Buffy asked. 

"Oh honey, I'm sorry if I worried you. I, I guess I didn't think it was anything serious," Joyce explained. 

"Is it...serious?" she asked. Angel put his hand on her back.

"Well, the doctor found a gray spot in my CAT scan," Joyce began. "They're not sure what it is or how serious it could be. They just want me to stay overnight for observations," she explained. Buffy looked at her mother and tried not to burst into tears. 

"When will they know, if, if it's serious," Buffy asked.

"They should know by tomorrow," she assured her. Buffy nodded.

"Honey, you should go back to the house, you and Angel, go get some rest," she told them.

"I should stay and-" Buffy began.

"No. Honey, they won't know anything until tomorrow and it's probably nothing. Now there's no need to stay here and worry, now go," Joyce told them in cheerful voice. Buffy looked at Angel then back at her mother.

"Mom I..." she began.

"Go," she said. "Or else I'm going to make them keep you here and run all sorts of tests on you," she threatened. Buffy smiled at the sound of her mother's humor.

"Alright, fine. But I'm coming back tomorrow," she promised.

"Ok," Joyce said. Buffy then walked over to her mother and hugged her before leaving.


	8. Ch7

****

CHAPTER 7

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

When Buffy walked into her mother's hospital room the next day, there was a doctor in the room talking with her mother.

"Mom, what's going on?" Buffy asked as she walked into the room. The doctor and Joyce both looked towards Buffy's direction.

"Buffy, come sit down," Joyce said. As Buffy walked over to the bed and sat down, she realized bother the doctor and her mother's face was serious.

"W-what's going on?" she asked. Joyce reached out and took her hand.

"Buffy, the CAT scan came back, and the doctors found a tumor in my brain," Joyce told her slowly. 

"What? How bad is it?" she asked the doctor quickly. 

"We have a better chance at beating this if we get her into surgery as soon as possible," the doctor explained. Buffy nodded.

"When?" Buffy asked in a shaky voice.

"Hopefully tomorrow." he said.

"Good," she said. She looked at the doctor, then back at her mother. "I-I'd better get going. I left Dawn at home with Angel," she explained as she got up and quickly headed towards the door.

"Tell Angel I say hi," Joyce said. Buffy turned around and nodded before leaving the room. She felt like everything around her was spinning. How could this be happening? She felt as if her knees were about to give way, and decided to sit down in one of the chairs on the lobby. She couldn't hold in the tears any longer. She put her hands up to her face and began to cry. She was having a hard enough time back in L.A. she didn't need this on top of it. All of a sudden, a nurse walked over to Buffy and put her hand on Buffy's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked concerned. Buffy looked up and wiped the tears away as she got up.

"Yeah, I'm-I'm fine," she said before walking out of the hospital. But she was far from fine. She felt her whole world began to crumple before her, and for once on her life, she felt powerless.

****

* * *

__

A Few Months Later…

"Here we are," Buffy said as they walked into the Hyperion hotel. The following months after the surgery were hard on everyone. After the operation, Joyce seemed to be making slow recovery. Buffy decided to stay in Sunnydale while her mother recovered from surgery. Angel stayed with her as well for a while, but he had to go back to L.A. for a few days at a time to keep the crime down back in L.A. Joyce had been doing well until one day; Buffy came home to find her mother dead on the couch. Joyce's death had hit everyone hard, and after the funeral, Buffy and Angel decided to take Dawn back to L.A. with them. They had just gotten back from Sunnydale, and were beat from the past weeks events. 

"I can give you the tour in the morning. For now, why don't we just get you settled in, in your new room," Buffy suggested.

"Ok," Dawn said in a low voice. Buffy put her arm around her sister as the two of them headed up the stairs.

****

* * *

Back downstairs, Angel checked around and made sure everything was all right when Wesley walked into the room. 

"How are they doing?" Wesley asked as he walked over to Angel. Wesley had finally come around, and was now living back in the room he had turned into an apartment when they had first moved into the hotel. 

Angel sighed. "Better than I thought. Although, I think Dawn's taking it harder than Buffy is," 

"I can only imagine," he said. 

"What about her house?" Wesley asked.

"Oh, uh, Giles is taking care of it. As far as I know, a lot of the stuff is coming here," he said. Wesley nodded.

"I know the room is kinda bare, but we're going back and getting the rest of our stuff tomorrow," she explained as she sat on the edge of the bed. Dawn nodded.

"It's ok," she said.

"Dawn, I know you didn't want to move here, that you wanted to stay back in Sunnydale, but I'm going to make it work here," she assured Dawn.

"Are we going to be able to see Giles, Willow, Xander and the rest of the gang?" she asked. 

"Of coarse. And, once we get you settled in here, you can go and visit if you'd like," she offered.

"Ok," she said in a tired voice. Buffy noticed and smiled as she tucked a strain of her sister's hair behind her ear.

"I'm going to go, and let you get some sleep. Mine and Angel's room is just down the hallway if you need anything," she said.

"Thanks," Dawn said. Buffy smiled at her sister once more before getting up and walking towards the door.

"I love you Dawn," Buffy said in the doorway as she turned around.

"I love you too Buffy." Dawn said. 

****

* * *

Buffy walked into her bedroom where Angel was already putting his things away. He stopped when Buffy walked into the room and shut the door behind her.

"How's she doin'?" Angel asked as he walked over to her. 

"She's still taking it kinda hard. It's going to take a while to adjust, but she will," she assured him as she plopped down on the bed. Angel followed her gesture and sat down beside her.

"How about you?" he asked.

"I just can't believe she's gone," she admitted. "I mean, I keep having the urge to pick up the phone and call her, but then I remember that she's gone," she said.

"It's just so weird," she added.

"Is they're anything I can do to help?" he asked. Buffy shook her head.

"I just want to get some rest," she admitted. Angel nodded.

"Ok, good idea," he said as he rubbed her back. The two then got ready for bed, and before she knew it, Buffy was asleep.


	9. Ch8

****

CHAPTER 8

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Yes, I myself was sad to see Joyce die on the show. She was a pretty cool mother, but at times (like actual moms) she could be kinda… well, a mom. LOL. But since it happened on the show, I had to write it in here as well that she died. Which actually kinda fits cause it seems that Buffy always has these massive responsibilities. Plus, I kinda wanna see what it'd be like Connor and Dawn meeting (in a non-romantic context.) I need more opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! LoL. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

__

A Few Weeks Later...

"Hey Buffy? Um, what are we gonna have for dinner?" Dawn asked as she walked over to her sister. Buffy smiled at the sight of her sister. She knew it was hard for her sister, but after a few weeks, she seemed to be adjusting just fine. In fact, Dawn was being kept busy enough unpacking, and learning her away around the hotel, and getting to know Angel's crew.

"Well, I was kinda thinking of ordering a pizza. Is that ok?" she asked. Dawn nodded.

"Yeah, that's fine," she said. She then looked around the room then back at her sister. "I still can't believe this is my new home. It's so big," she said in awe as if she had just seen it.

"I know. That's how I first reacted," she admitted.

"But it'll never be like home," Dawn said. Buffy sighed as she put her arm around her sister.

"No, it won't, we can't go back Dawnie," she said. Dawn looked up at her sister and nodded.

"I just miss everyone back in Sunnydale," she said. Buffy thought about what would make her sister happy and decided to do something for her.

"Dawn, how would you like to stay with Willow and Tara next weekend?" Buffy asked. Dawn's face lit up.

"Are you serious?" she asked happily. 

"Well, I'd have to call them and ask if it'd be ok, but yeah, I am," she said. 

"Oh my God, Buffy, you're the coolest!" Dawn exclaimed as she practically jumped into her sister's arms and hugged her. 

"Well there's my two favorite girls," Angel said as he walked over to the two of them. 

"Hey Angel. I may be staying with Willow and Tara next weekend!" she said happily.

"That's great," Angel said. He knew Dawn was feeling a little home sick, and spending time with Willow and Tara would be perfect for her.

Buffy frowned when she noticed Angel had his coat in his hands.

"Where are you going?" she asked. 

"I'm going out to go kill some bad guys," Angel said as he walked over to Buffy and lowered his lips to hers. 

"And to check up on our son," he added as he pulled away and headed towards the door. "God only knows what he's been up to; the trouble he's probably gotten himself into," Angel said as he thought about how much trouble their son had probably gotten into since he checked up on him last. It was a little weird having a son; a teenage one at that when he was really only a year old. It was even weirder having a child that lived else where, when he should have been living with them; like a family. It hurt Angel more then he let on when he kicked Connor out of the hotel, but he didn't want Connor to become a threat to anyone else after what he had done to Angel. 

"Then I should go too," she said. He turned around.

"No. You're going to stay here with Dawn, and order a pizza," he told her.

"Fine. Just, be careful," she said. Angel smiled before disappearing out the door. Buffy sighed.

"Sometimes, he makes me crazy," she said as she crossed her arms. 

"Yeah, but that's only because you love each other," Dawn said.

"Yeah," she agreed. She then looked at her sister and smiled. "Why don't we order that pizza, huh? I'm getting hungry," she said as she walked over to the phone. 

****

* * *

Angel stood on a rooftop downtown looking down as he watched Connor pummeled a vampire in an empty alley. Connor was unaware that Angel was watching him from the top of a building. Angel watched as the vampire tried to get away. Wanting to secretly lend a hand to his son, he quickly looked around the rooftop for something to drop down. Finally, the only thing he could find was a cement vase. He shrugged his shoulders and dropped it down below, in the vampire's path. That gave Connor a chance to grab the vampire and stake the creature. Angel watched then quickly moved out of site just as Connor looked up to see where the vase had dropped from. Angel, satisfied with the night's check up on Connor, smiled at the thought of his son before disappearing into the darkness. 

"At least he's taking care of himself," Angel said to himself as he began to walk away, and headed home.


	10. Ch9

****

CHAPTER 9

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Sorry about the other chapter being sooo short. This one is kinda short too.. Sorry bout this!! How am I doin' on this story?? I hope I'm doin' ok. Remember, Feedback is VERY much wanted!!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

"Hey Angel," Dawn said as he walked into her new room. Buffy had helped her set up some of her stuff earlier after they ate their pizza. The two girls had also done some running around earlier together while Angel stayed in for obvious reasons. They also had an appointment with a high school for Dawn. In fact, it was the school Buffy had gone to before moving to Sunnydale; Hemery High. 

"Hey Dawn. Wow, this room's looking pretty good," Angel said as he looked around. Dawn smiled.

"Thanks. Buffy helped me unpack some of my stuff from the boxes," she explained. "She even brought up some of the heavier things like my dresser," she added.

"She did," he said as he looked over at Buffy. "Well, it looks like you guys have been busy," he noticed.

"Yeah, but then Buffy started talking about having to go back to school soon, and the mood kinda went down," she explained. Angel laughed.

"Yeah, I didn't care much for school either," he told her. "But Buffy's right. You're going to have to go back to school soon," he told her.

"I tried to tell her she'll be going to school here in L.A." Buffy said.

"Speaking of which, didn't you have an interview today?" Angel asked. Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, we did."

"How'd that go?" he asked. He knew Buffy had been nervous about the interview all week long since she had been kicked out of the same school.

"Actually, it went great. Dawnie's starting in two weeks,"

"Well, that's cool, huh?" Angel said looking at Dawn.

"Not really," she said. 

"I tried to tell her how lucky she was to be going to a school in L.A. I mean, how many kids back in Sunnydale would kill to go to the school your going to," Buffy told her.

Dawn crossed her arms and looked at her sister. "I liked that school. I had friends there like Janice, and I wasn't afraid to bring them to the house," she told her. 

"Well, if it helps, you can have a friend, or two over once in a while," Angel offered. 

"Do you know how hard it would be having friends over when your older sister's the slayer, and her boyfriend's a vampire?" she asked. Angel laughed as he scratched the back of his head, knowing he wouldn't win. 

"A valid point. Ok, well, I'll be downstairs if you guys need me," he said before leaving. He knew Buffy would be able to defuse Dawn better then he could. He didn't have much experience raising a teenager. 

****

* * * 

A few minutes later, Buffy followed Angel downstairs. She looked around the room before realizing he was in his office unloading his weapons.

"So, did you see him?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, I saw him," he said as he took off his hand stakes.

"And?" she prodded. 

"And, he's fine," he told her. "He was kicking some vampire's ass in an alley. He's fine," he assured her. Buffy could tell by the tone in his voice that he didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Ok. I'll just go up to bed," Buffy said as she headed towards the door.

"Buffy, wait, I'm sorry. I'm just tired of dealing with Connor," he told her. Buffy turned around. 

"You don't think I don't feel the same?" she asked him. "And, and on top of all that, I have to help Dawn start a new life here with us. This isn't easy for anyone Angel, but I don't have a choice in this," she told him.

"I'm really sorry. I know it's been hard on you the most. But your doing great," he assured her as he reached for her hand and pulled her into a hug.

"No I'm not. I suck at being a grown up," she told him.

"Your doing better than I ever would have done," he assured her. Buffy looked up at him.

"Really?" she asked. 

Angel nodded. "Yeah." He then kissed her on the top of her head as he held her in his arms. 

****

* * * 

"Hey, what are the plans for tonight?" Gunn asked as he walked into the lobby. Buffy turned towards him.

"I was kinda hoping we could go out and kill demons," Buffy said. Gunn looked at Angel worriedly as he noted she seemed a little too happy about her suggestion.

"She's been itching for some action," he explained as he looked up from a book.

"Yeah, same here," he admitted. "Hey, where's little bit?" he asked as he noticed Dawn's absence.

"She's upstairs watching TV" Buffy explained.

"Which is exactly where I want her to be when I open up this portal thing," he said as he held up the crystal ball that Wesley had given them before Joyce had died. He had told Buffy that after things settled down a little more, then he'd pick up on trying to find Cordy with the information Wesley gave them a while back.

"What am I supposed to do while your exploring other places?" Buffy asked. He grinned before pointing to Gunn.

"That's where you come in. Take her out, let her kill a demon or something, but _please_ take her out. Wesley will be here to watch Dawn," he explained.

"Alright, fine. But if you leave me here alone again, I'll _personally_ find you and kick your ass," she threatened.

"I'll be back. I promise," he assured her. Buffy smiled at him. Angel then walked over to her and lowered his head down to hers and kissed her. 

"All right you two, some of us have dimensions to visit; others have appointments with kicking the un-dead's asses," he said as he pulled Buffy away from Angel, and out the door. 


	11. Ch10

****

CHAPTER 10

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ok, for those of you who replied saying you wanted more interaction between Buffy and Connor, well… here it is. There is some in this chapter! Hope you all enjoy!! Oh, and as you can tell by how fast chapters are being posted, I'm becoming less busy which is a huge relief! Thanks for stickin' around tho and waiting for me to get my butt into gear!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

A few hours later, Gunn and Buffy arrived back to the hotel feeling more relaxed after killing some demons. 

"I for one feel a lot better," she said happily.

"Good, I'm glad," Gunn said. While the two of them were talking about fighting techniques, Dawn started down the stairs. Buffy noticed her sister's presence and instantly picked up on Dawn's worried expression. 

"Dawn, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked as Dawn walked over to them.

"It's Angel," she said.

"What's wrong? Is everything ok?" she asked.

"Well, after Angel did that spell-thingy to try and find Cordy, he's been in his office," she said. "I think he's more broody than usual; if that's possible," she said. 

"How do you mean brooding? And why were you down here when you were supposed to be in your room?" she asked quickly.

"I came down to get something to eat," she answered quickly.

"Wow. Angel? Brooding? Who would've thought," Gunn said sarcastically. Just then his office door opened.

"Ok, I can hear everything from my office," Angel said as he walked out of his office. As he walked over to them, Buffy noticed the scrapes and cuts he wore on his face.

"Are you all right; what happened?" she asked as she walked over to him and put her hand up to his face.

"I'm fine," he said quickly. Although he had been banged up pretty badly when he went into the other dimension to find out where Cordelia was. He was lucky to get out of the dimension alive- sort of speak, but he wasn't about to tell Buffy that.

"Did you find Cordy?" Fred asked as she walked over to Gunn. She and Gunn had slowly become a couple over the past year. 

"Yeah, I did," Angel said. 

"And?" Gunn asked.

"And Wesley was right. She's in another dimension; as a divine being," he explained.

"Wow, Cordy, a divine being?" Buffy asked sounding amazed.

"Yeah. She was full of light, and she was surrounded by joy," he told them, vividly remembering what he had seen in the dimension. "Cordy's doing a whole lot of good in that dimension," he said.

"Yeah, but she was doing good here too," Gunn pointed out. 

"She's home, where she belongs," he told them. "And that's where she's staying," he told the group before disappearing into his office. Buffy looked over at Gunn worriedly.

"I'd better go talk to him," she said as she headed for Angel's office. Gunn looked over at Dawn as soon as Buffy disappeared into Angel's office.

"Ok, I think it's time for you to go to bed," he said. Dawn looked up at him and rolled her eyes.

"Fine," she said before heading back up the stairs just as Wesley walked into the lobby. 

"It seems I missed something. What's wrong with Dawn? And where's Angel and Buffy?" he asked.

"You were right about your lead on Cordy," Fred began. "Angel and Buffy are in his office, and Dawn's going to bed," she explained all at once, answering Wesley's questions. Wesley nodded. 

"It's gettin' late. Why don't we get goin,' huh?" he suggested. Fred and Gunn lived outside of the hotel. Fred had a little apartment, and since she and Gunn were a couple, he stayed there most of the time.

Fred nodded. "Alright, come on,"

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Wesley said before the couple left. Wesley secretly liked Fred, but he knew he'd be asking for trouble if he let anyone know. Besides, he was secretly sleeping with Lilah, the Wolfram & Hart lawyer.

He was about to head back to his apartment when Dawn snuck back down to the lobby. Wesley smiled.

"Aren't you supposed to be going to bed?" he asked. Dawn shrugged.

"Buffy never said I _had_ to," she said.

"Just like Buffy; never do things the simple way," he said under his breath, but enough for Dawn to hear his comment.

"I'm not that bad," Dawn protested. She was about to continue when Buffy walked out of Angel's office.

"Busted," Wesley said.

"Dawn, what are you still doing up?" she asked.

"You never told me to go to bed." Buffy looked at Wesley and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm telling you now. Go," she said.

"Alright, I'm going," she said as she walked towards the stairs. Buffy focused her attention back to Wesley. 

"So, how have you been Wes?" Buffy asked.

"I've been better," he said simply.

"I hear ya," she agreed. Wesley tilted his head.

"How are you holding up?" he asked. He hadn't been around at the time, but he had found out from Giles that Joyce had died a few months ago. He hadn't actually met the mother of the slayer, but he had been told good things about her, and felt bad when he was told the news. 

Buffy just gave him a weak smile.

****

* * *

__

A Week or so Later...

"Buffy, I had _so_ much fun with Willow and Tara!" Dawn said excitedly. "I saw Xander, Anya, and Giles," she added.

"How is the gang?" Buffy asked.

"They're great. Even though Xander's still with Anya," she said. Buffy smiled. She knew that her little sister secretly had a crush on Xander.

"So what's been going on here?" she asked curiously. Buffy shrugged.

"Oh, you know, same old stuff," she explained.

"Have you seen Connor?" Dawn asked. She had been hoping that the big mess with Connor would be sorted out, and she'd be able to hang out with him sometime. 

"Angel saw him a few weeks ago," she said. A few minutes later, Angel walked out into the room.

"Hey kiddo. I'm glad you're back," Angel said as he walked over to Dawn and hugged her. 

"I am too," she agreed. Buffy looked down at her watch.

"Oh crap, I've gotta go," she said as she got up from the couch.

"Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Oh you know, here and there," she said quickly as she tugged on her jacket and opened the door.

"I'll be back later," she said quickly before leaving.

"That's weird. I wonder where she's going," Dawn said as she plopped down on the couch.

"Yeah, so do I," Angel said as he continued to focus on the front door.

****

* * *

Buffy took a deep breath before knocking on the door in front of her. She and Angel had found out a while ago from the street where Connor was staying, but they hadn't actually gone there yet. A few seconds later, he door slowly opened, revealing Connor on the other side.

"Well, look whose here," he said. What do you want?" Connor asked as he stood on the other side of the door. He held the door open only half way.

Buffy held up a bag of fast food. "I um, brought you something to eat," she said. Connor looked at her for a second before moving away from the door, back into the room. 

As Buffy walked into the building, she noticed it was fairly small, but it seemed to be ok for Connor. She smiled when she noticed Connor had decorated it and added touches to the old building's interior. Buffy walked over to Connor; who was sitting on his bed; and handed him the bag.

"I thought you might be hungry," she explained as Connor opened the bag and pulled out a hamburger.

"You just wanted to see where I was," Connor said, knowing what Buffy was doing. Buffy smiled.

"Yeah, that too," she admitted.

"So where's Angel?" he asked after he swallowed a bite of his food. Buffy sat down beside Connor.

"He's back at the hotel," she explained. 

"Why aren't you there?" he asked. 

"Connor, your my son. I worry about you," she told him. Connor chuckled bitterly as he stood up.

"Yeah, I'm sure you do," he said. He hated not being as close to her as he was before Angel came back. He felt as if he could really trust Buffy; but some of that trust had disappeared when they had kicked him out.

"Ok, I'd better be leaving," she said as she got up and headed for the door. She knew she wasn't getting anywhere with him. She'd just have to try again soon. 

"Don't stay on my account," Connor said. 

"Please be careful," she said before she left. 

"I will Mom," Connor whispered, even though Buffy had already walked out the door. Connor looked at the door after Buffy left and felt lonely once more. 


	12. Ch11

****

CHAPTER 11

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: The time has come…. Cordy returns! I hope you guys enjoy! I REALLLY need feedback on Cordy/Connor relationship. If for some reason you guys don't wanna e-mail me, that's ok, just write your opinion in a submission! PLEASE tho! I really need opinions!

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

Buffy quietly entered the hotel assuming everyone was asleep. As she walked further into the lobby, she realized Angel was sitting on the couch, in the dark, waiting for her.

"Hey, I thought everyone was in bed," she explained as she took off her jacket.

"I wanted to wait until you got home," he explained. 

"Well, I'm home now, so we can...go to bed," she said wanting nothing more than to go upstairs to bed.

"Sounds good to me," he said as he got up. "It's been a long day," he said.

"It really has," she agreed. 

__

Two Days later...

"So what am I going to do while you guys are out fighting?" Dawn asked as Angel and Buffy got ready to go out.

"What do you usually do?" she asked as she took out a stake and examined it. 

"Yeah, but it gets boring after a while," she whined.

"Dawn, you did this routine when we were in Sunnydale, I don't see how it's different," she said as she turned around.

"Yeah, but it's weird without the scooby gang here, and usually someone would stay with me," she explained. 

"I could call Fed," Angel offered. Dawn paused and considered her options; stay in the hotel alone and with occasional visits from Wesley, or hang out with Fred, _who was pretty cool, _Dawn said to herself. 

"Alright, cool," she said. Angel smiled, and walked over to the phone.

"Dawnie, I know you miss the gang, and I promise as soon as all the chaos around here dies down, and you start school, I'll let you go back and visit," she promised. 

"I know," she said as Angel walked back over to them.

"And maybe, they can come here," Buffy suggested. Dawn smiled and nodded.

"She'll be over in a few minutes. Are you ready?" he asked. 

"Yeah, let's go," she said as they headed for the door. 

****

* * *

Buffy and Angel headed back a few hours later. They had managed to track down a demon that was planning on making a meal on a few unsuspecting humans. Then after that, they had dusted a few vampires that were up to no good downtown. Buffy sighed in relief as they walked through the hotel doors.

"Dawn, were home," Buffy said as she and Angel walked into the lobby. As she walked further into the hotel, she realized Dawn and Fred were sitting with some one else.

"Dawn, who's-" she began before realizing who it was.

"Cordy?" Angel asked as they walked over to them. Cordelia was still wearing the gown he saw her wearing as a divine being in the other dimension. Buffy instantly noticed her hair was also a lot shorter, and had been lightened drastically.

"She, she just appeared in the hotel an hour or so ago, and we've been trying to settle her down since," Dawn explained. 

"Cordy, do you remember what happened?" Angel asked as he and Buffy walked over to the couch where Dawn was sitting with Cordelia while the others were standing around in the lobby. Cordy shook her head.

"I don't remember anything," she admitted. She continued to look around the lobby.

"And I don't remember this place, or who I am," she said.

"That was the other part I was getting to," Dawn said. Buffy looked at Wesley worriedly.

"Why doesn't she remember anything?" she asked her ex-watcher quickly.

"Were not exactly sure yet," he admitted.

"Have you called Giles?" she asked. 

"He's not sure either," he told her. Buffy sighed and walked over to her. 

"Your name is Cordelia Chase. You're from a town called Sunnydale, which is also in California," she began.

"Oh," Cordy said. 

"You don't remember _anything_?" Buffy asked again, despite she had already said she didn't. 

Cordelia shook her head. "I don't remember anything about me, or my past," she said. "Or any of you," she answered once more as she tried to recall even a shred of her past.

"Well, you work with us," Angel began as he walked over to Buffy. "And you've been gone, for a long time," he told her. "But you're back now."

"God what's wrong with me? Why can't I remember?" Cordy asked sounding frustrated with herself. 

"I, I think you may have amnesia," Fred told them as she stood in the back. 

"Amnesia?" Cordy repeated. "Well, how do I get my memory back?" she asked.

"Well, I heard sometimes it helps if you go through your stuff," she suggested. 

"Good idea. Dawn, some of her stuff is in my office. Why don't you help her look through some of it?" he suggested. "I'll be in, in a minute," he added.

"Ok," Dawn said as she got up. "Um, his office is this way," she said as she motioned to his office. Cordy smiled faintly and followed Dawn into Angel's office while keeping a safe distance. 


	13. Ch12

****

CHAPTER 12

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: 

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

"Ah, I think we need to have a group discussion," Angel said. Buffy could tell he sounded slightly worried.

"Cordy has no memory of anything. Herself, us, or the job we do. I think it would be a good idea if we leave out the 'demons-are-real' part of her life until she's ready for it," he suggested.

"I agree. She'd probably get creeped out by the whole thing, and that's the last thing we need," Buffy said.

"So that's the plan? Keep Cordy out of the Demon knowledge?" Gunn asked.

"For now," Buffy assured them. "Also, it might be a good time to call Lorne. Maybe we can get him to read Cordy," she suggested.

"I'll do that now," Wesley volunteered before heading over to the phone. 

****

* * *

A few minutes later, while Angel and Buffy helped Cordy try to gain her memory back in Angel's office, the rest of the crew hung out uneasily in the lobby. Just then, the phone rang, and before anyone could reach it, the answering machine picked up the call. Cordelia walked out into the lobby when she recognized her voice. 

"See. You're safe here," Dawn assured her as she walked over to her. Just as Dawn finished assuring her, the caller's voice came into hearing, explaining about his problem with a 'Demon Broad.' Buffy quickly ran over to the phone and picked up the phone before their new client could further explain.

"Demon Broad?" Cordelia repeated sounding uneasy.

"Uh, it's not what it sounds like. That's a case were dealing with. A nasty divorce," Angel lied, trying to cover up the truth. She looked at him, and Angel had a feeling she wasn't buying his lie. 

"OK, um, our client needs to meet with someone," Buffy said as she walked back over to Angel.

"Now?" he asked.

"Now." 

"Ok, Gunn? I need you to go out and meet one of our..._clients_," Angel told him.

"At this address," Buffy added as she handed him a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it.

"Sure. Be back later," he assured them. 

"Are you sure you're going to be alright alone?" Wesley asked. 

He nodded. "Yeah, I think I can handle a dem- I mean, our _client _alone," he assured them before leaving.

"Ok. Dawn? Why don't you help me settle Cordy in for the night?" Buffy suggested.

"Why doesn't she stay in the room where we have her stuff?" Angel suggested.

"Right; good idea. Cordy, why don't you follow us, and we'll get you settled in for the night?" Buffy suggested before heading up the stairs.

****

* * *

Buffy opened the door to the room where Angel had kept all of Cordelia's belongings that had been brought from her apartment. 

"Ok, here we are. All your stuff, and clothes, are in here," she explained. 

"Thanks. I really appreciate you helping me out," she said.

Buffy smiled. "No problem. If you need anything, we'll be downstairs," she said as Dawn headed out the door first. Buffy paused at the doorway. 

"And Cordy?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You really are safe here; among friends," she assured Cordy before leaving her alone. 


	14. ch13

****

CHAPTER 13

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

****

Author's Note: Ummm…. Well, it's 2:30 in the morning; I can't really think of anything besides in this chapter, there is a part that mentions the Curse. I know there was some worry a while back that it was being ignored. I'll try to fit it on more, K?

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

A little while later, Angel arrived back at the hotel with a paper bag full of packets of pig's blood. Not wanting to run into Cordelia; who could be anywhere in the hotel since he'd left; he headed straight for the kitchen.

"Hey you," Buffy said from behind him. Angel quickly spun around.

Angel smiled at her. "Hey. I was just going to put this in the fridge," he explained. Buffy smiled.

"Then I'll join you," she said as she followed him into the kitchen. 

"How's she doin'? Angel asked as he put the blood away in the fridge. Buffy was sitting on top of the counter as the two talked.

"She hasn't really come down since you left," she explained. Angel looked around the kitchen and frowned. 

"Where's Dawn at?" he asked curiously.

"Sleeping."

"Where's everyone else?" he asked. 

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know," she said. Angel put the plastic bag away and walked over to her.

"So that means were alone?" he asked as he put his hand on the counter and leaned closer to her.

"For now," she said. She smiled before his lips met hers. After a few moments they broke off their kiss and just smiled at each other before leaning forward and kissing once more.

Buffy broke off their kiss a few seconds later. 

"What? What is it?" Angel asked confused. Buffy was looking down.

"Damn this curse," she said finally. "The one thing that broke us up in the first place." Buffy mind begin to drift to her Junior year of high school; the night she and Angel had spent together. Goosebumps began to appear on her arm as she thought back to the cruel things Angelus had said the next day… _'Come on Buffy; it's not like I've never been there before..' _Buffy cringed at the thought. She was so deep in thought that she jumped when Angel put his hand on her arm.

"Buffy?" he asked concerned. 

"Ok, we'd better get back to work before something happens," she said as she jumped down from the counter. Angel caught Buffy by her arm.

"Buffy, you sure your ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"Ok," he said as they walked back out of the kitchen. 

****

* * *

The couple headed for Angel's office, when Cordelia appeared and began down the stairs.

"Hey. Is everything ok?" Buffy asked as Cordy walked over to them.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was just looking around the hotel and I came across some things that are a little confusing," she explained. She held up a yearbook and opened up to the first page.

"Here, look at this," she said as she handed it to Buffy. "Here. This one mentions something about 'flaming arrows'," she pointed out from the signatures. "And this one here mentions something about a giant snake." 

"Oh, um, a few of the kids you knew had a bad prank pulled on them, and you helped them out," she lied. She felt like kicking herself for the lame lie she had just made up, but she hoped Cordy had somehow bought it.

"Oh," Cordy said simply. "Well, what about this?" she said as she flipped to another page in the yearbook and handed her two pictures that had just been placed in the yearbook. 

"Who's that guy I'm with?" she asked. Buffy smiled at the sight of her friend.

"That's Xander," she explained as she handed the picture back to her. "You two used to date back in the last two years of high school," she explained.

"Why'd we break up?" she asked. Buffy shrugged.

"Beats me." Cordy went quiet for a second and studied both Angel and Buffy. 

"I'm getting that you two are...together, am I right?" she asked curiously. 

"Yeah, were together," Buffy assured her as Angel put his arm around her shoulder and gave it a loving squeeze.

"So I take it the picture of the baby I found in one of the boxes up in my room is yours?" she asked them.

"Yeah," Angel looked at Buffy, who looked up at him at the same time. "Yeah, that's our son."

"Oh, he's so cute. What's his name?" she asked curiously.

"Connor. His name is Connor," Buffy told her. Cordy looked at the couple and sensed it was a sore subject, and decided to move on.

"Oh, I almost forgot….Am I a nun?" she asked. Buffy had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Angel on the other hand let out a chuckle. "What gave you that idea?" he asked. She reached into one of her pants pockets. 

"Well it's just, I found these in a box," she said as she handed Angel a handful of rosaries. Before Angel realized what Cordy was handing him, the rosaries dropped in his hand and instantly burned him. He growled and quickly dropped them on the floor. Cordy looked at him with a shocked expression before letting out a blood curdling scream. 

"Cordy, what's-" Buffy began. She looked up at Angel and realized he had vamped out from being burned. Cordy quickly turned around and ran out of the building.

"Cordy, wait!" Angel called out after her as he and Buffy ran after her. Before Cordy could reach the front door, she literally ran into Lorne, who wore a look of worry on his face from the scream he had heard from upstairs. Cordy looked up to see who she had ran into, and came face to face with a green-horned demon, which made her scream again.

"Holy Palooza, what in the world is going on?" he asked. Before she could run away, Angel and Buffy caught up to her.

"Cordy, wait a minute," Buffy said. Cordy quickly backed away from Lorne and turned towards Angel; who was now back to normal. 

"I knew there was something you guys weren't telling me," she told them, trying to hold down the fear that was still inside her. "Now I want you to tell me the truth. And I mean everything about my past and what you people do here," she demanded. 

Buffy nodded and motioned to the couch in the lobby. "Ok."

****

* * *

"Ok, so let me get all of this straight," Cordy said a little while later after the group told her the truth about everything. "So vampires, demons and all that stuff are real; I lived on a _Hellmouth_-" she looked at Angel. "-Your a vampire, and this place is an investigation agency that deals with fighting all the things that go 'bump' in the night?" she said. Both Angel and Buffy nodded simultaneously. Cordy stood up, letting all the news sink in abut her life of demon fighting.

"And I get visions of people in trouble?" she asked.

"Yup," Buffy assured her.

"After kissing a guy named Doyle who used to work here?" Angel paused for a second at the sound of his friend's name.

"Oh, did I say something wrong?" she asked.

"No. No. It's just; we were all close. As a matter of fact, he liked you a lot," he explained. Cordy smiled.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"He died saving a group of half demons." 

"Ok. The part I'm lot loving along with the rest of this is how some evil law firms from Wolfram & Hart are after me to find out what I know about the future."

"Yeah, were working on that now," Angel assured her. 

"Yeah, well. I still don't like it," she said, sounding slightly angry. 

"I got it!" Buffy exclaimed. Angel and Cordelia looked at we weird. "Let's get Lorne to read her, see if he can read her destiny," she suggested.

"Wait a second; _Read_ me?" she repeated.

"Yeah. The demon you ran into earlier. His name is Lorne, and he reads peoples aura's," Angel explained.

"How does he do that?" she asked.

"Well, you have to sing." 

"I don't sing," she told him plainly. 

"It's the only way he can read you," Angel told her. "Besides, it might help us." Cordelia pondered her choices.

"Alright, fine." On that note, Buffy headed to where Lorne was, and brought him downstairs.


	15. Ch14

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CHAPTER 14

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

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Author's Note: Ok, so, Wesley's starting to be in there more. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments about the characters? Am I doing alright portraying the characters, man I hope so! Let me know! Naskt8@aol.com.

****

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

"Ok, that-that's all I need to hear," Lorne said, stopping Cordy in the middle of her song. Angel looked over at Lorne, wondering why he had stopped Cordelia so soon. He quickly noticed Lorne was scared about something as he backed away from her.

"What? What's wrong?" Cordy asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong," he assured her before scurrying out of the room. Buffy looked over at Angel worriedly.

"I'll be right back." Angel excused himself before heading in the direction Lorne headed towards. 

Buffy looked over at Cordy. "I-I'm sure it's nothing. Sometimes, I don't even understand Lorne," she admitted. Cordy nodded. "I'll be right back. I'm going to see what's going on," she said before following Angel. _They're lying to me again, _Cordy said to herself. She looked around the room and decided to look around while the others discussed more lies.

****

* * *

"Lorne, what's going on?" Angel demanded as he walked into Lorne's room. 

"Evil. I saw death, and evil, and it's coming and soon," he explained. "I didn't see much, but it was enough to make my head ache, and my stomach feeling like snakes are in it." Before Angel could respond, a loud scream ripped through the hotel. Without hesitation, Angel, Buffy and Lorne ran out of the room, back down the stairs. When they got to the lobby, they realized it was empty with the exception of a demon's body on the floor. 

"Cordy!" Angel called out as he began to search the downstairs rooms while Buffy remained in the lobby.

"She's not here," Angel said as he joined Buffy back in the lobby.

"Could Wolfram & Hart have gotten her?" she asked as she looked down at the demon body lying on the floor.

"It wasn't sent from Wolfram & Hart; that was my client," Lorne told her. 

"We have to find her," Buffy said quickly. "She doesn't remember anything; she could get killed," Buffy said worriedly; although when Cordy lived back in Sunnydale, the two hadn't been very close, but Buffy had to give her credit on account of her helping the Scoobies out in Sunnydale. Besides, Buffy had noticed a change in Cordy when she had first arrived in L.A. to see Angel a few years back.

"I'll call the rest of the guys," Lorne said quickly while Buffy and Angel headed for the Weapon's cabinet and pulled out what they'd need. 

"I'm going to take a quick sweep around and see if I can find her before the rest of the guys get here," Angel told them.

"Then I should go too," Buffy said.

"Buffy, I need you here." Buffy shook her head. "What if Dawn wakes up?" he asked.

"Too late," Lorne said from the other side of the room. Buffy turned around and looked up to see Dawn at the top of the stairs covering a yawn with her hand.

"What's going on?" she asked as she headed down the stairs.

"I'll be ok," he assured her before leaving. Buffy grumbled before heading towards Dawn.

"It's ok. Go back to bed," she told her.

"No way. Something's going on; and you expect me to go back to sleep? Who was screaming?" she asked.

"Were just having some problems with Cordy right now," she explained.

"I want to help," Dawn said. 

Buffy shook her head. "What I need for you to do right now is to go back upstairs into you room," she told her.

"But-" Dawn began.

"Dawn, I mean it. I'll explain everything later. Now go!" she told her sister. Dawn mumbled something before climbing back up the stairs. Buffy turned back towards Angel.

"Be careful," she simply told him. Angel smiled at her.

"Always."

****

* * *

An hour or so later, the whole gang were there, joining in on the search for Cordelia, all except for Wesley and Angel. Dawn, after arguing with Buffy, was downstairs helping Fred out with marking a map trying to find where Cordelia could be. Buffy looked around and felt helpless. She realized that this group worked together great, and knew what they were doing. Buffy felt as if she should be out with Angel trying to find information out on the streets. But Angel was right, in case Wolfram & Hart was up to no good, and planned the whole thing, it was better if Buffy stayed behind to protect everyone. Buffy quickly swung around when she heard the front doors open a few seconds later, and Angel walked over to the group.

"Any luck?" Buffy asked. 

Angel shook his head. "How bout here?"

"Same," Buffy said. 

"She's got to be _somewhere_ close by!" Angel said sounded frustrated that they hadn't found anything yet. As if on cue, Wesley walked in through the front door.

"I know where Cordelia is," he announced. Angel looked at him shocked.

"But--How?" he began. "How in the hell do you do that? This is the second time you've- Never mind. Where is she?" he asked quickly.

"You're not going to believe this," he warned them. The room attention on him now.

"Where is she?" Gunn asked. Wesley looked directly at Angel.

"She's with Connor."

"Wait a second. We've been looking all over for her, and she's been with my son?" Buffy asked.

"It seems so. I'm not entirely sure how they ended up meeting, but.." Buffy looked over at Angel, who just stood there.

"Angel?" she asked.

"No, it's good. At least we know she's safe there. Connor won't hurt her," he said sounding certain of it. 

"Angel, if Wolfram & Hart is after both Cordy and Connor-"

"And if they somehow find their whereabouts," Gunn continued. Angel looked at the group.

"We gotta go," Angel said quickly realizing they had a point, and both Connor and Cordelia may be in trouble.


	16. Ch15

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Chapter 15

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of _Buffy_, and the fourth season of _Angel_. 

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Author's Note: Ok, here's the newest chapter. Sorry it's talking so long to post. Thanks to everyone who's still here waiting! VERY much appreciated!

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Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently. 

****

Sure enough, as soon as the group arrived at the place Connor was staying at they knew something was wrong. 

"We're too late," Angel said quickly as he jumped out of the car and headed for the building; Wesley, Buffy, and Gunn following. 

"Shouldn't we go help them?" Dawn asked confused as she and Fred sat in the car.

"Buffy said we need to stay in the car," Fred said.

"But that's so…boring!" Dawn complained.

"Don't think if it as that; think of it as us being back up if they need help," Fred explained. Dawn smiled.

"I like that."

****

* * *

"Hey!" Angel growled as he broke down the door to Connor's place to find Wolfram & Harts men already there, attacking. Gunn, Wes, and Buffy instantly jumped into action, fighting the men off with the help of Connor and Cordelia. A few minutes later, the remaining men empty out of the room. Angel watches confused, but relieved that they're leaving.

"Must have been ordered back," Gunn said. Angel walked over to Cordelia, who looked as if she was both frightened and exhausted all at the same time.

"Are you ok?" he asked quickly. Cordelia nodded. "Cordy, why don't you come back with us?" he asked. Cordelia shook her head. 

"I want to stay here with Connor. He's the only person that's been truthful with me, and I feel safe here," she said. Angel looked at her for a second before nodding. He wanted to take Cordelia back with them, but she didn't feel safe with them, and would probably end up running off again. At least here he knew she was safe and knew where she was. Angel turned around and walked towards the door. He stopped when he reached Connor.

"Keep her safe," he told him before walking out. The rest of the group slowly followed out the door. Buffy paused and looked at Connor.

"Are you ok?" she asked. 

Connor looked at her and nodded. "Yeah I'm ok." 

"You sure?" she asked. Connor nodded. "Ok, be careful," she said quietly then walked out the door.

****

* * *

Dawn was the first one to hop out of the car once they got back to the hotel. She and Fred just talked while the rest of the group went in. Now Dawn wanted to get back into the hotel and watch some TV. The rest of the crew trailing behind her, talking about their own things. Dawn stood by the front door and frowned as she heard a noise coming from the main office. Buffy walked in behind her and noticed dawn's sudden change.

"Dawn? What is it?" she asked.

"A noise. Coming from over there," she explained as she pointed in the direction. The hairs on the back of Buffy's neck stood on end as they were greeted with an eery silence. Buffy and Angel both cautiously began towards the direction of the noise, only to discover Lorne tired to a chair, a gaping hole in his forehead. 

"Oh my god," Buffy said in disbelief as she walked over to him quickly, thinking he was dead. Angel looked back over towards Dawn, who was craning her neck curiously their way to see what was going on.

"Keep her away!" he instructed quickly. 

"Angel? What's going on?" Dawn asked worriedly. Angel turned back around towards Buffy and Lorne as Buffy held her arm out and touched an area close to the wound on his forehead. Lorne's eyes instantly shot open. Buffy screamed and tripped, falling flat on her butt.

"He's alive," Buffy announced quickly as she got up. "Lorne, you ok?" she asked.

"I am _far_ from ok. While you guys were out looking for Cordy, Wolfram & Hart were here; using a demon to suck my noggin of what my read was on Cordy," Lorne explained as Buffy quickly worked to untie him. "And I may wanna add; My head hurts like the dickens!" 

Buffy looked up at Angel; exchanging uneasy glances as they realized Wolfram & Hart now knew everything from the reading Lorne had done on Cordelia, including knowing the future.


End file.
